We had 16 walkers turn up for a great walk, meeting at Garrawarra Farm Car Park.
It was a great Winter morning, starting exactly on time. The walk started as normal with bushrocks and platforms making the walk alot more enjoyable.
We made our way down to the Burning Palms beach, at the end of the beach, some of the walkers continued to the Figure 8 Pools. Whilst other walkers awaited our return. The walkers that remained had an early and longer morning tea.
In the end 7 of us, made it to the Figure 8 pools, the swell was well and truly up — big sets were exploding over the platform near Figure 8 Pools, throwing spray metres into the air, so the pools themselves were putting on more of a show than a swim-through today.
We rejoined the coast track by going up Robin Rill, and made our way up the many many steps.
We pushed on south to Werrong Lookout for an early lunch, perched with sweeping views back up the coastline. two of the walkers claimed a rock ledge with legs dangling over the edge and simply sat with it for a while. Whales had been flagged as a possibility for the day with no fins or blows to report.
From Werrong we picked up the fire trail for the return leg back to Garrawarra Farm, a gentler, more sociable stretch after the morning’s scrambling.
Day ended with a well-earned drink at the Heathcote Hotel.
For the four (4) walkers, they day started with some concern that we would only see a blanket of white fog for the day. We shouldn’t have worried, as the sky started to open and the views appeared before us.
We started our day walking along Narrow Neck to the top of the Golden Stairs and along the way we saw a lot of bird life. This was the story for the first part of the day – from Lyrebirds through to LBB’s (little brown birds).
We arrived at Ruined Castle in time for morning tea with a view as the fog started to lift and saw glimpses of the end of Narrow Neck and Mt Solitary. Our merry band then started to climb down to the main track. The walk back to the bottom of the Golden Stairs entailed dodging lots of walkers going the other way and skipping over the muddy track.
The track after the Golden Stair turn-off and through to the Scenic Railway was a path less well used. By this time the fog was gone, fewer walkers, the sky a brilliant blue and lovely views appearing in the openings of vegetation. We lunched near the land slip and had great views up the Kadumba Valley, the Three Sisters and Mt Solitary.
Our day finished climbing up the Furber Steps and visiting every lookout on the way to the top. The day finished at the Scenic Railway café with a beverage, several satisfied laughs and a great view.
After a solid day’s walk, I thank our small but merry band for the wonderful company, views, laughs, birdlife, and satisfying weariness.
Walking through the mist to Ruined Castle
Waterfall next to Furber Steps
Narrow Neck and Ruined Castle from the Landslide
Three Sisters viewed from the base of the Golden Stairs
Ten walkers met up near Central to take a bus to the Randwick main gates of Centennial Park, where we picked up our eleventh member.
The plan was to walk the main inner loop of the park, and then take a more ad hoc perimeter loop in the reverse direction. The inner loop was heaving with runners, walkers, dogs, bikes and at least one horse. By Busby’s Pond, we moved in to the pond, where we started to see lots of birds and it was much quieter. We mostly stayed inward from the main loop from there. The views were better, too.
We had a pause while we reported an injured goose to rangers, and then tracked around the ponds. The ranger later caught up with us to let us know WIRES had taken the goose into care, and also to tell us we were walking too fast lol.
Taking the reverse direction, as close to the perimeter as possible, gave a quieter experience, with some beautiful old trees. Despite the heavy use, there are some beautiful views through different areas of the park. We had lunch back at the cafe and Fearnley Grounds picnic area.
We finished by walking around the Kensington Pond to the bus stop. We saw quite a few birds around the water: Eurasian coot. purple swamphen, whitefaced heron, Pacific Black duck, black swan (nesting) crested pigeon, dusky moorhen, pied cormorant willy wagtail, bin chickens and a very big gaggle of domestic geese.
The day statrted in thick fog which made for an exciting drive to West Head dodging barely visible cyclists. The fog created an atmospheric start to the walk past Aboriginal engravings and a magnificent cave overhang.
The track to Mackeral was rough as expected but fortunately had been recently cleared by NPWS making it much safer
The sun was out by the time we arrived at Mackeral Beach. We had the perfect spot for morning tea – a view to die for , warm sun and even comfy chairs to sit in.
On the way to West Head we diverted to West Head Beach with amazing views to Barrenjoey
Returning to the Resolute Picnic area for a pit stop and then out to Koolewong Lookout for lunch
A real Goldilocks day. Even so most of us felt that we had done a walk.
Misty morning on the Resolute Beach track
Morning tea at Great Mackerel Beach. If you need a public phone box, you know where to go!
This walk includes some of the best parts of the Great North Walk. We descended into deep creeks, walked beside healthy mangroves and salt marsh, spotted a huge variety of fungi and enjoyed lush glades of ferns. There were waterfalls, lookouts, rushing streams (more on that later), a dam and highways to pass over and under.
Fresh walkers at the start – Girrakool Picnic Area
Piles Creek East track now joins the Great North Walk
We (19 walkers) started with a car shuffle from Reserve Rd to Girrakool. Once walking, we descended steeply into Piles Creek until it met Mooney Mooney Creek. Along the way, we stopped at the suspension bridge over Piles Creek for morning tea. This was free of leeches, but that soon changed, with increasing numbers trying to hitch a ride. The walk along Mooney Mooney Creek passed through some beautiful bush
Crossing the suspension bridge over Piles Creek
Easy fire trail after crossing the Old Pacific Hwy
We stopped for lunch on some leech-free rocks at the point where we had to cross Mooney Mooney Creek.
Crossing Mooney Mooney Creek after lunch
There was no helpful suspension bridge in sight, and the creek was flowing quite fast. The track could be seen continuing on the other side, but how to get there? Peter scouted out several routes across, but finally it was decided that the best route involved crossing a short fast-flowing bit with the aid of the trusty yellow tape. Dave provided the main anchor, with Peter assisting walkers to get down the slippery first part into the water and get hold of the tape. Gradually most of the group crossed here, with a few deciding one of Peter’s other routes was viable. Once across with the tape, there were still some other tricky slippery bits to negotiate. Everyone worked together, until all were safely (and maybe slightly damply) across. This was a great team effort in true Up and Downer style and especially so, as for some walkers this was their first experience of crossing a creek in this way.
It was a good idea bringing my safety tape (Peter). Lucky we had a small but tough bush to tie onto. The exposed rock was very slippery but not so bad in the knee deep, fast flowing water.
After the creek crossing, the track wound steadily upwards, past Lower Mooney Mooney Creek Dam. There were more spectacular ferns and interesting fungi until we walked out to the water tanks on Reserve Rd.
Turkey tail mushroom
Coral fungi
Nodding Greenhood – Orchid
Red Spider Flower
The car shuffle was undone, and drinks (and crisps) were enjoyed at the Mount Penang Gardens before heading home. Thanks to all walkers for an enjoyable day on the track with great teamwork and good company.
There was a male blue wren in this photo 2 seconds ago
Very lovely creekline next to the campground
View to Penrith from Portal Lookout
8 walkers headed out to Portals Lookout from Glenbrook, covering around 15 km in excellent winter conditions. It was a clear, mild day with great visibility, and the track delivered early with expansive views over the Glenbrook rail tunnels and surrounding valley. The lookout provided a good vantage point to reflect on the area’s railway heritage, including early tunnel works that allowed trains negotiate the steep eastern escarpment.
The walk continued with views out toward the Nepean River and plenty of open bush to enjoy along the way. Lunch was taken at Euroka Campground beside a shaded creek, which made for a relaxed and unhurried break. Birdlife added to the day, with blue wrens and rosellas spotted around the campsite and along the track.
The walk included tackling the Lapstone Monocline, a distinctive geological feature where rock layers have been steeply folded, shaping the local terrain and escarpment profile. It was a solid but manageable climb that was rewarded with some amazing views. The group wrapped up with smoothies and coffee at Glenbrook Park, rounding out a very enjoyable day that was appreciated by all. Many thanks Julie and Garry
Eleven walkers met at Abbotsford Wharf on a beautiful clear day. We walked to the old quarantine centre used up until the 1980s, then followed the shoreline around the east side of the bay where we saw a number of wading birds on the tidal flat.
The walk follows the shoreline for quite a way until we hit the golf course where we had morning tea at the entrance. No access is provided through the golf course so we had to cross the road (Path works). At this point, 9 walkers crossed back after the golf course and 2 (including one leader, Effie) proceeded on engaged in conversation.
Eventually all came back together and we headed along the west side of the bay through parks and street walking. We had a leisurely lunch at Cabarita Park and a very short ferry ride back to Abbotsford. Thanks to everyone who participated.
15 walkers took on the walk from Bundeena Road towards Wattamolla Beach.
Starting off with a car shuffle,with clear, blue winter’s day – it was perfect conditions for a stretch of the Royal National Park’s most scenic coastline. The track wound straight out through open heath, with sandstone boardwalks keeping feet dry and wide views opening to the sea almost immediately.
From the heath the track dropped down to Little Marley, where the group stopped for morning tea on the rocks overlooking the beach
After morning tea the group pushed on towards Wattamolla beach, having a well earned lunch break before heading to Providence Point. With views towards Wollongong
The highlight of the day, though, was the whale show. A pod of humpbacks put on an extended display – cruising along the surface, blowing, and at one point breaching with a huge fin slap
The walk wrapped up back at Wattamolla Beach Car Park, with 11km, 150m of ups and downs, and a front-row whale show . The day was rounded out with a well-earned coffee catch-up at Audley Weir – a relaxed end to a brilliant day.
12 walkers stared down the weather forecast to have a mostly dry walk around Daley’s Point and Boudii NP. We saw some Aboriginal Art, many grass trees and angophoras, a huge sea eagle doing laps along the coast, some amazing views to Maitland Bay/ Killcare Beach and out to sea, nudi-branchs on the beach, singing honey-eaters, ringing bell birds, baby butcher birds… and yes leeches. Morning tea with a view inland over Brisbane Water was followed by Lunch at Hardy’s Bay. The day finished with a couple of big hills which tested Julie’s new heart rate monitor (174bpm) and every-one’s wet weather gear. We finished at Ettalong Diggers in good spirits and where the last stealthy hitchhikers were removed from legs, shoes and socks.
Well, what can I say? The weather was fabulous, the views were stunning, the company was good, we escaped the rain in Sydney.
Wilkinson Hill was first. The track out was fire trail at first then bush track, then possibly guesswork as far as where the track was. However, we easily arrived at our destination, at the cliff edge overlooking the Grose Valley. We could see several places the club has been before, Ikara Head, Valhalla Head, Thor Head, the way into Asgard swamp, the creek we scrambled into to get to all those places. We had morning tea here to enjoy the view, making sure we did not get too close to the edge with its vertical fall of at least 100 metres.
After morning tea, we retraced our steps until we came to the turnoff to Jinki Ridge. This track was much more distinct, possibly because it’s the exit from Dalpura Canyon. We proceeded quite well along here until we came to a place where the head of a creek needed to be crossed onto another part of the ridge. The group judged this to be too difficult, as the rocky slope was wet and slippery after recent rain, so the decision was made to have lunch on top of a pagoda and enjoy the view.
After lunch there was some more scouting around, first of another ridgeline of pagodas and then of a possible way to get around the slippery slope. This walk was exploratory, so this route will be left to be investigated on another occasion. Despite the fact that we fell short of our planned objective for this part of the walk, the area we traversed was beautiful, with small pagodas and meadows of low vegetation. Drinks were at the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens café.
Walkers, Wilkinson Hill – view to Dalpura, Thor & Valhalla HeadsLooking at the elusive end of Jinki Ridge with pagodas in the foregroundReturning from Jinki Ridge
